Oscar Pistorius murder charge: Reeva Steenkamp profile

A law graduate, television celebrity and model, Reeva Steenkamp was in the
first flush of romance with South Africa's most famous sportsman.

Earlier this month Ms Steenkamp tweeted that Pistorius was 'beautiful to look at and says some smart stuff too'Photo: AFP

By Erin Conway-Smith in Pretoria

9:45PM GMT 14 Feb 2013

She had only been stepping out with Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic sprinter, four years her junior, for "a couple of months", her publicist said on Thursday, adding that it was a "healthy, fabulous relationship".

"She was the sweetest human being, the kindest most unbelievable girl," said the publicist, Sarit Tomlinson. "She was a rising star. There was so much in the pipeline for her: she was just about to explode into the media. She was a very talented, very bright young girl."

This weekend, Ms Steenkamp, 30, was due to star on South African television as a contestant on Tropika Island of Treasure, a reality show set in Jamaica.

Born in Cape Town, Ms Steenkamp grew up in Port Elizabeth where her father Barry trained race horses. Samantha Sutton, a close family friend, said her parents were "hysterical" when told the news by detectives early yesterday morning. "They were both in a bad way," she said to Eyewitness News.

Ms Steenkamp loved to ride horses, she told FHM magazine, "until a bad fall left me with a broken back". She added: "People assume I'm of the princess variety, but the only Barbie I had growing up was one that came with a horse."

She modelled from her mid-teens, but after going to a convent school, St Dominic's Priory, she studied law at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan university.

In 2011, she told a local newspaper, she applied to the Bar. "It was nerve-racking experience," she said. "As I walked out I got a call for the FHM shoot as well as two others. I made a decision to do the modelling. I believe in destiny," she said.

Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius at the Feather Awards in 2012 (AFP)

Before he invited Miss Steenkamp to accompany him to last year's South Africa Sports Awards, Mr Pistorius was romantically involved with Samantha Taylor, a marketing student from Cape Town.

But he was also linked with other women, including Anastassia Khozissova, a Russian model. Ms Steenkamp, meanwhile, was living in Johannesburg a year ago with a long-term boyfriend and two cats.

Last Sunday, Ms Steenkamp told a local newspaper that Mr Pistorius was "an impeccable man who always has her best interests at heart". Earlier this month, she tweeted that he was "beautiful to look at and says some smart stuff too".